Forum

[JTL]

Alan R... I believe you are right in your choice of oil, both kinds seems to be fine. My choice of 15W/40 is determined by the cold weather here in Denmark (even summers; apart from this one) and my impatience in warming up the oil before riding of. It seems to be a good choice for me. The question is, if it is good for the bike: does the oil become too thin when hot? In other terms does it loose its ability to stick to the internal surfaces for lubrication of all the moving parts? ... This is where the scientific approach is introduced instead of believe or just common sense. I want to believe in science, but I have no way of knowing if the stuff I read about oil is correct. So I have to believe in what the tech spreads on oil tells me... So we are back to common sense. It tells me, that 15W/40 is (a little?) thinner than 20W/50, and it's good for cold starts. I really hope, it is good for the engine as well. Well, I guess, we ended up with believes. And maybe this is the point of my comment: how can we know for certain if a recommended kind of oil is the best choice. As all the other comments suggest, oil is not just oil, but there is a margin to choose within... all the best Jacob

[simon]

A perennial question this one. As stated I am of the straight 50 camp but were I in the lets be frank colder climes of Blighty I'd go for 30 winter and 50 summer. The reason I do this is that my engines seem to leak less and behave better on straight mineral oils. I have heard that modern oils especially pure synthetics are too slippery and not suitable for motors with roller bearings. I pass n judgement on this but I do know that my first Ducati 860 behaved like a total pig on Shell Helix refusing to change gears and fussy and strange compared with the well tempered and tractable machine it was on Kendall 50. Oil I think is like beer, all oil is good some oil is better.

[Alan R]

Hi guys-------with all this talk about viscosity ratings I'm assuming we are naturally using a straight mineral or semi-synthetic (My personal choice)----DEFINITELY NOT a full Synthetic though, which I'm basing on costs and the relatively poorer quality of engineering in my Classic 500.............It's "horses for courses isn't it" ??-------- Anybody on here riding in a desert scenario ?? NORM, OZ can be hot --- what's your preference ???

[Norm]

Alan,
cheap 20/50 and change it regularly